


Same Old Lang Syne

by euphoriclown



Category: Reylo - Fandom, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas Eve, Exes meeting, F/M, Memories, Sad Story, Song Lyrics, inspired by a song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 16:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20312179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euphoriclown/pseuds/euphoriclown
Summary: Inspired by "Same Old Lang Syne"- Dan Fogelberg.Rey and Ben Solo meet in the grocery store. They haven't seen each other since college. Drinks ensue and they remember happier times when they were together. But this isn't a fairytale, this is life.





	Same Old Lang Syne

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to Same Old Lang Syne in the car and thought that this would be a sad Reylo idea.

It was Christmas Eve and Rey was strolling through the isles of Whole Foods, rolling her eyes at the overpriced groceries. She didn’t know why she shopped there. Maybe because it was the closest, maybe it was because they had the best peanut butter selection, but she did. 

She didn’t want to go home, she couldn’t. Just a few more minutes, she told herself. 

_ I could at least get some string beans.  _

She hated string beans, but her husband would definitely want them for Christmas dinner. 

She turned her cart to head down the frozen foods, the clear doors filled with vegetables and pizza. It was always too cold down that aisle, and Rey shivered beneath her coat. 

_ Why is everything so hard to find? _

She was beginning to become frustrated not being able to find what she needed. Or maybe she was really frustrated because she hated Christmas; it was just another reminder that her life was disappointing. She felt a pang of overwhelming guilt. She had a happy family; she didn’t have the right to complain. 

Smiling as her eyes stumbled upon them, she placed the cold plastic bag in her cart. 

She felt someone tap her shoulders. 

* * *

Ben was on the lookout for Eggo Waffles, his favorite thing to eat on Christmas Eve. He had to see his family on Christmas day, of course, but tonight was his night. To be alone, drink, and eat waffles. 

He wasn’t sure why he was shopping at Whole Foods for Eggo Waffles; he could get them for their actual price somewhere else, but maybe he liked the idea of gourmet frozen shit. 

He hated Christmas; the whole happy family thing. It was the time when everything he did wrong in his life played on repeat in his head. What he could have had if he wasn’t such a bad person. 

As he passed by the frozen vegetables, he thought he saw someone he knew. Someone he knew very well. Someone he had spent three years of his life with. 

Rey was picking out string beans, he laughed. He always hated those, and he also knew that she did, too. 

He had to see if her eyes were the same and if her smile was still as bright. 

So, with a slow inhale of breath, he tapped her on the shoulder. 

* * *

Rey turned around, she had to look up to see him. It took her a second, but as soon as her eyes settled on him, her eyes grew wide with shock. It was as if she had the wind knocked out of her, she struggled to gasp for breath. 

She could always recognize that long dark hair, those dark eyes filled with memories, and that agonized look that made her heart ache. 

“Ben?” Her eyes were filled with tears. 

She sprung to hug him, but spilled her purse; the contents dropping to the ground with a series of cracks and rattles. 

They both looked down at the ground, then at each other, and started bursting out with laughter. 

“Here, let me help.” His familiar deep voice still seemed to give her butterflies. 

  
“Thank you,” she said, smiling. 

She held her purse open while he scooped up her phone, keys, and wallet. 

His heart stopped when he settled on a keychain; it was the one he bought her. One of the greatest nights they had along Fisherman’s Wharf on their vacation in San Francisco. Rey had complained that everyone just buys a key chain and leaves, so he had bought her one. They laughed together on the plane ride back home; she put it on her keys. 

“You never took it off.” He eyed the keychain. 

“I thought it complimented my Whole Foods rewards card.” They both laughed. 

“Let me push your cart,” he said. 

“It’s okay, really. I need to check out now anyways. Do you want to come?” His eyes lit up; what he would do to get a few more moments with her. 

“Okay. I just need to get one thing.” He ran over to the frozen waffles, grabbing the box of waffles he had come for. 

“You still have Eggo Waffles on Christmas Eve.” 

“I’ve always liked tradition.” He smirked. 

They arrived at the check-out stand, and the cashier started to pack the food.

“Give me those waffles, I can pay for them.” She smiled, grabbing the box out of his hands. 

“You don’t have to.” He waved her off. 

“No, please. A Christmas present from me to you.” She placed the box on the sliding conveyor belt, the last item to be paid for. 

The food was totaled up in bags and they stood there, and awkward silence ringing in their ears. 

Rey placed her card in the chip reader, smiling over to him. She signed and got her receipt, the same way she used to do when they went grocery shopping with each other. Ben laughed at that thought, of course it was like when they were together, it’s all the same. But it wasn’t the same, they were both happier people then. 

Rey grabbed the two bags, and Ben took one of them. 

They put them in her trunk, silence still between them.

Ben couldn’t stand it anymore, it was all too painful. He had nothing else to do. 

“Do you want to go for a drink?” He exhaled slowly. 

Rey thought for a moment. She had a family, it was Christmas Eve for heaven’s sake, but she couldn’t say no. 

“Sure.” They got in the car. 

“So, it’s been a while,” she said, turning out of the parking lot. 

“Yeah, it has.” They keep their eyes on the road. 

They circled around the empty town, trying to find an open bar. 

“Damn it, nothing’s open,” Rey said, laughing. 

“What kind of monsters are closed on Christmas Eve?” He threw up his hands for dramatic effect. 

“I have an idea.” She gave him a mischievous smile. 

She parked her car in front of an old liquor store, the lights in front buzzed and flickered. 

“Quick, they close in a few minutes.” She winked and they ran inside like how they used to do in college. 

“Here.” She handed him the six-pack and headed to the counter. 

“Is that all?” The cashier asked, scanning the box. 

“Yep,” Rey said. 

Ben exchanged his cash for the pack and they headed back to the car. 

“Merry Christmas,” the cashier said. 

“You too.” They smiled. 

* * *

They sat in the car, a small vent circulating heat. 

“A toast to innocence,” Ben said, clinking the bottle with hers.

  
“A toast to now.” 

They drank their first bottle in silence. 

A subtle emptiness still invading their hearts.

“So, tell me about your life,” Ben said, picking up the next bottle. 

“What is there to tell? Let’s see. Well, I got married.” The words couldn’t help but punch him. 

“Congratulations.” He tried to sound as truthful as he could. 

“I wouldn’t go to that extent. He’s an architect, and he gives me a home, keeps me warm.” 

The twinge of regret in her voice was noticeable to Ben, and he felt sorry for both of them. He imagined how sad they would look to another audience watching them struggle on a cold Christmas Eve. 

“I would like to say,” she paused. “I love him.” 

Ben didn’t know what to say. How do you tell someone that you’ve loved them forever, and never stopped for a second? 

“Well, the years have been a friend to you, Rey.” She smiled at him. “Your eyes still do that thing where they change color with the light.”

He wasn’t sure what her expression was: doubt or gratitude. 

“I’ve seen your movies. You must be doing well; the life of a movie star and everything,” she said. 

Of course she had, everyone has seen them. 

“The fans are crazy and the traveling is hell, but it’s nice being known for something.” Ben wasn’t sure how to explain everything he went through, how he was still not over her, and how he only became a star so he could be as numb as possible. 

“People say you’re a real asshole. I have some friends who have worked with you. I just always tell them, ‘that was my Ben’.” She noticed the way his face fell but didn’t find a way to make it better, there was no use. 

“Unfortunately I am and always will be.” He chuckled. 

“So, how about you, Ben?” 

“What about me?”

“Are you married?” 

“My lifestyle isn’t cut out for relationships. They usually dump me after some tabloid scandal.”

“That’s messed up.” Rey took a drink, it was almost as if they invented a new game. Drink when one of them felt bad for the other. 

“Maybe I’m just awful at relationships in general.” He eyed her, signaling that he definitely meant how things ended between them. 

“No one is awful at relationships,” she said. 

“No one except Ben Solo,” he said laughing to himself. 

“Speaking of the Solos, how are Leia and Han?” her eyes were filled with the memories of the family, Leia was the sweetest woman she had ever met. 

“Pretty much the same. My mom never  _ stops _ calling and my dad never does.”

She laughed, Ben always had a complicated relationship with his parents. She missed them almost as much as she missed Ben. Her in-laws just saw her as the orphan girl Poe married, but Ben’s parents basically adopted her on the first date. 

“What about Hux? Is he still a pain in the ass?” They laughed. 

“Yeah, but he’s my friend, so he’s my pain in the ass.” 

“Shit! What time is it?” She quickly finished her bottle.

“Ten,” he said with agony knowing she was going to have to leave. 

“I have to get home.” 

“I should, too. I live around here, so I can walk.” 

“Okay.”

The last few moments were spent just staring at each other. Nothing was said, and nothing needed to be said. Their tongues were tired, and it felt like everything was falling down, but they never dropped their gaze. 

Ben needed to turn, get out of the car, and walk home in the falling snow, but he couldn’t. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to know if her lips tasted the same way they did years ago, if she still ran her fingers through his hair, and if she still loved to do all the things they did when they were happier. 

But he couldn’t. That’s not how life works, he thought. People move on, no matter how much he didn’t want to believe it, she had a family and it wasn’t fair for them. 

When the two of them pictured this happening, they thought they would leave their lives and fall into each others’ arms as fast as the snow falling out the window. 

This was so much different. 

Ben couldn’t look at her any longer. It was time to leave. He turned away and stepped out of the car, leaning in to tell her his last words. 

“I was going to tell you that I never stopped loving you.” He started to choke on his words. “But I’m not going to do that to you.”

Rey had tears streaming down her cheeks; she thought they would never stop. 

“So I’m going to say: Keep the waffles, they’re delicious.” He laughed and a puff of frozen breath escaped into the air. 

Rey laughed against her tears which fought for the spotlight. She couldn’t believe how everything happened, and she couldn’t believe that she couldn’t just run into his arms and forget about everything she had a few hours ago. 

“Goodbye, Ben.” She held out her hand and he grasped it, holding it to his cheeks. 

“Goodbye, Rey,” he said, kissing her palm the way he always used to do. 

The car door slammed. 

The engine rattled to a start.

Rey drove back to what she had. 

As Ben watched her headlights fade into the distance, the snow turned into rain. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
